- Hardcover
- Publisher: CHANNEL FOUR BOOKS; First Edition edition (2001)
- ISBN-10: 0752260936
- ISBN-13: 978-0752260938
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This book is absolutely excellent - a really absorbing history of six very different lost species. It starts with three ice age creatures: the mammoth, sabre-tooth tiger and Irish elk (a giant deer type thing). Interestingly, we don't really know why they died out, and various theories - climate change, disease - are put forward and explained by the author and the various experts interviewed.
The second half of the book covers three species much closer to our era: the dodo, great auk (penguin thing) and the extremely odd Tasmanian tiger. The most interesting is the Tas tiger - one of those strange Australian marsupials that seemed to be its own evolutionary dead-end. Considered a pest and hunted to extinction in the 20th century, it truly is a cautionary tale.
The book is well illustrated with lots of diagrams and photographs (harrowing b/w shots of pathetic Tas tigers in the zoo particularly effective).
EXTINCT was originally a tie-in to a Channel 4 series that didn't exactly set the world on fire, and there are brief features on the making of the programme - fine if you like that kind of thing (again, great photos).
If you're interested in natural history and ecology, I'd thoroughly recommend this book. It's also full of accounts of human endeavour and exploration, like 'Longitude' or 'Cod' - well worth a read!
The second half of the book covers three species much closer to our era: the dodo, great auk (penguin thing) and the extremely odd Tasmanian tiger. The most interesting is the Tas tiger - one of those strange Australian marsupials that seemed to be its own evolutionary dead-end. Considered a pest and hunted to extinction in the 20th century, it truly is a cautionary tale.
The book is well illustrated with lots of diagrams and photographs (harrowing b/w shots of pathetic Tas tigers in the zoo particularly effective).
EXTINCT was originally a tie-in to a Channel 4 series that didn't exactly set the world on fire, and there are brief features on the making of the programme - fine if you like that kind of thing (again, great photos).
If you're interested in natural history and ecology, I'd thoroughly recommend this book. It's also full of accounts of human endeavour and exploration, like 'Longitude' or 'Cod' - well worth a read!
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
1 review
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
A very good book on Holocene extinctions
30 Nov 2004
Format:Hardcover
This book explains the nature and causes of post-Ice Age (Holocene) extinctions by focusing on six now-vanished creatures.
Based on a British television series, the authors examine the cases of the Columbian Mammoth, the saber-toothed cat, the Irish Elk, (all earlier than 500 B.C.) ,the dodo, (1700s), the Great Auk (1844) and the thylacine, (Tasmanian Tiger (1936). It is readily apparent that the hand of man and his actions is strongly implicated in the last three extinctions, and probably the firsr three, as well. However, the roles of changing climate, impact of exotic creatures, changing habitat, food supply, and other factors are also addressed. The book is delightfully impartial, presenting facts, and letting the reader draw his or her own conclusions from them.
The text is well-written and easily understood. The photographs and re-creations of tha animals' appearances are truly remarkable and form a high point of the book. Interesting inserts explain the computer animation and research behind such efforts.
The role of the extinction process has always been of interest to me, and I feel this one of the better books on the topic. I would recommend it highly to all readers. Even children will be fascinated by the stories and pictures.
Based on a British television series, the authors examine the cases of the Columbian Mammoth, the saber-toothed cat, the Irish Elk, (all earlier than 500 B.C.) ,the dodo, (1700s), the Great Auk (1844) and the thylacine, (Tasmanian Tiger (1936). It is readily apparent that the hand of man and his actions is strongly implicated in the last three extinctions, and probably the firsr three, as well. However, the roles of changing climate, impact of exotic creatures, changing habitat, food supply, and other factors are also addressed. The book is delightfully impartial, presenting facts, and letting the reader draw his or her own conclusions from them.
The text is well-written and easily understood. The photographs and re-creations of tha animals' appearances are truly remarkable and form a high point of the book. Interesting inserts explain the computer animation and research behind such efforts.
The role of the extinction process has always been of interest to me, and I feel this one of the better books on the topic. I would recommend it highly to all readers. Even children will be fascinated by the stories and pictures.
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